'If we get back to top, there's no better time for me to bow out'

'If we get back to top, there's no better time for me to bow out'

Australia's Ricky Ponting announced his retirement from international cricket on Thursday, telling a stunned news conference he would be calling time on his glittering 17-year career after this week's third Test against South Africa.

The former Australia captain has scored 13,366 runs in 167 Tests -- the second highest haul in the long history of the game -- and stands behind only the great Don Bradman in the ranks of Australian batsmen.

'The results hasn't been what I expect of myself'

"A few hours ago I let the boys know of my decision to make this Test my last," Ponting, who turns 38 next month, said in the weights room under the stands at the WACA.

"It's a decision I thought long and hard about. It was based on my output and my results in this series so far. It hasn't been what I expect of myself and certainly not the level required of a batsman in the Australia team."

'Over the last couple of weeks my performance has not been good enough'

"I've said all along that I would continue to play as long as I could continue to make a contribution to wins, and I think over the last couple of weeks my performance has not been good enough to do that."

Ponting, who retired from One-day cricket in February, has scored nought, four and 16 in his three innings so far in the series against South Africa.

'We're going into what I consider to be almost a Grand Final'

Ever the competitor, Ponting said the time to look back over his career would come after the Perth Test, where victory for Australia would see them leapfrog South Africa to return to the top of the Test rankings.

"It's a great opportunity. We're going into what I consider to be almost a Grand Final," he said.

"As I said to the boys this morning, I'm hungrier than ever and I want this win probably more than any other game I've played.

"If we get back to the top of the tree, to the top of the world, there's no better time for me to bow out."